Resilient snap hook



Oct. 14, 1952 e. BODEN EIAL RESILIENT SNAP HOOK Filed April 15, 1949 INVENTORS George BoJon Mr an V Dual] A TORNEY Patented Oct. 14, 1952 RESILIENT SNAP HOOK George Boden, Waterbury, andMorgan V. Duell, *akville, .C.onn.,:assignors to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application April 15, 1949,"-Seria;l'No.-87,584

.1 Claim. .1

This invention relates to key retainer'loops such as used in connection with various types of key containers, and is an improvement upon applicants prior application Ser. No. 13,894 filed March 9, 1948. In the referred to application, a key "loop is provided having :a ball end for swivelly mounting the loop in a key container, and a free end disposed adjacent the :neck 'of said loop and held thereagainst by za sliding sleeve.

One object of this invention is to provide ..a m-orepositivermeans .for interlocking ,thepzsleeve with thefree: endflof'the loop.

Another .object: is :to restrict'the movable positions .of. thesleeve .upon :the loop so :as to :.elimi nate interference .with the keys when'assembled or'removed from the loop.

Theseand other objects and features of this invention will appear from the following description thereof in which reference is made to the figures of the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a typical key plate such asattached to a fiexiblekeycontainer with the improved key retainer. loop attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one key retaining loop, "per"se,'with the ring in locked position.

Fig. 3 shows a sideelevational view of the key loop with the ring unlatched and the free end open in position to receiveor remove'a'key.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the same.

Fig. 5 is -'a view similar to Fig- 3 but showing the ring in locked position.

Fig. 6 .is a cross-sectional view taken .on the line65 of Fig. '5.

Fig. 7 is ..a vertical sectional view taken along the line'11 oi'Fig. 1 and showing how the ring of the loopcooperates with a portion of the supporting member to prevent the ring from :being slipped completely off the free end of the loop.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of key retaining loop, and

.Fig..:9 ,isza cross-sectional'view of the ,same taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 8.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral ll] designates a key retainer plate having a rolled barrel portion II at one end with transverse slots 12 cut therein and typical of such a plate is that disclosed in the Geo. Boden Patent 2,114,172, dated April 12, 1938. As more fully described in said Boden patent, there is provided a slide lock- 2 ing plate 13 that'serves to block off the enlarged openings 12a disposed in the rear part of the barrel portion and which openings connect with transverse slots 12.

The keyretainer loop, generally indicated by the numeral 15, consists .of a ball head 16, an integral neck I! of round stock in cross section and joining the .head Hi to a U-shaped loop 18. Theqopposite end of the loop I8 terminates in a free end is that is slightly arcuate shape in its longitudinal direction andreversely bent to the shapepof the loop l8.

The ,key retainer loop 15 is preferably made from round wire stock and is .fiattened onits inner and outer surfaces for substantially its entire length except at the neck I! and for a very short terminal section of the .free end 19. This flattening of the, wire-stock tozform the-loop improvesthe resilient characteristics .of the loop for reasons .as will :appear later.

The loop 18,.in itsnormal set position, "issuch that the free .end I9 is spaced a sufficientdistance from the connecting neck portion 11 of the loop so as toaallow a key to :be easilygslipped into place on the loop, .after which the vzloopis locked by a tubular lockingsleeve 20 thatis slidably fitted on the neck I! and adapted :to he slipped over the free end l9 ofthe loop when said freeend is pressed inwardly againstsaid neck [1.

The size .of the .locking sleeve is such that. it cannot slip over the ball head l6 and is .held Withinconfined sliding movement upon the neck I! by a flattened orcompressed widenedportion 2| at a point where the neck I! joins theloop l8.

On the free end 19 there is another flattened or compressed widened portion 22 that conveniently serves as a finger piece when urging the free end IQ of the loop l8 againstneck ll for-the purpose of removing or assembling the ring 20 over said freeend [9. The opposite sides-of the neck 11 and free end IQ of the loop are swaged into-arcuate surfaces as-at 23 and 24 respectively so as to conform more or less to the interior diameter20a of said 1ockingring20. (Note Fig. 6.)

The tip end 19a. of the free .end [.9 of loop, is left in original state of the round wire stock fromwhich the loop is made, and thus provide for a shoulder 25 adjacent the upper end of the arcuate swaged portion 24. It will be understood that by reason of the resilient tension of the loop when in closed position, as shown in Fig. 5, the free end I9 is resiliently urged outwardly against the inside of the lock ring 20 when in locked position. However, if there are any forces, tending to slip the ring off the free end of the loop, it

3 will be prevented by the ring 20 abutting the shoulder 25 as a positive stop.

As best seen in Fig. 5, the flattened surface on the interior of loop is carried up through the neck to a point just below the head l8 having a shoulder as at 25, thus a clearance space 21 is provided in order to provide for ample room into which the free end [9 of the loop is pressed when assembling or disassembling the ring 20 over said free end 19.

In the operation of the device, when it isdesired to assemble a key or remove one, assuming the loop i8 is closed as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the locking ring 20 must first be removed from the loop free end 19 by manually pressing the latter inwardly against the clearance space 21 of the neck I! and force the locking ring 20 upwardly to the dotted line position of Fig. 5 to clear the tip end [So of the loop l8 whereupon the free end of the loop will spring out to the open position as shown in said Fig. 3. In this open position of the loop [5 one or more keys can be easily removed or assembled upon the loop after which the loop. can be closed and locked in the same manner as described above. With the keys upon the loop I8 that later may then be assembled to the key retainer plate l9 by first slipping the locking plate [3 to one side to clear the enlarged opening 12a whereupon the head [5 of the loop [5 may be inserted through the opening and the loop hinged or swung over to a position above the plate l after which the locking plate I3 may be released and returned under the influence of a spring 28 to cover the enlarged opening l2a.

The loop and ring 20 are so dimensioned that it will be impossible for the ring 20 to accidentally slip over and off the tip end [9a of the loop l5 when assembled to the barrel l2 of the retainer plate 19, even though ring 29 might per chance slip out from underneath the stop shoulder 25 and over the tip end [9a. (Note Fig. 7.) This additional locking feature is effected by reason of the fact that the length of the loop neck I! is such that the distance between the tip end i9a of the loop and the adjacent surface of the barrel I2 is less than the axial length of the locking ring 20.

A modified form of key retainer loop 30 is illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. This modified form differs in one essential from the first form illustrated in that the loop is made of round wire stock throughout substantially its entire length. Theloop 30 has the usual round head 3| at one end and integral with a connecting neck 32. At the mid U-shaped section or bend 33 of the loop, the stock is flattened on opposite sides of and through substantially the entire length of said bend 33. The bend 33 is preferably flattened on a plane transverse to the plane of the loop 39 so as to harden and effect a greater degree of resiliency at that portion of the loop.

The design of the loop 30 is similar to the first form in that the bend 33 is set so that the free end 34 of the loop is normally spaced a short distance from the neck 32. The free end 34 of the loop 30 is made concavo-convex in 4 cross section, as at 35 (see Fig. 9), so that the concave side will fit about the neck 32 when pressed thereagainst and the convex side will more or less conform to the interior surface of the cylindrical lock ring 36 which is similar to the ring 20 in the first form and functions in the same manner. A locking shoulder 31 is provided on the convex side of section 35 adjacent to the tip end thereof, which is similar to the shoulder 25 of the first form. It will be understood that the relative dimensions of the neck 32 and concave-convex section 35 are such that they can be compressed together and interfitted close enough so that the ring 36 can clear the shoulder 31.

In order to permanently maintain the looking ring 36 upon the loop 30, the mid portion of the flattened bend 33 is flattened to a greater degree to produce a widened portion 38 of a width greater than the interior diameter of said ring 36.

While two forms of the invention are shown in the drawing and herein described, it will be apparent that other changes and modifications may be made in the design, construction and arrangement of the elements of the combinations without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

A key retainer loop for a key container comprising a U-shaped resilient loop having a neck on one end with an enlarged head thereon and an opposite free end normally held in spaced relation to said neck, a tubular locking ring slidable endwise on said neck and having a smaller internal diameter than the diameter of said head, said ring being engageable over the free end of said loop to hold said free end in locked position adjacent said neck, and a small section of said loop having a flattened portion located between said neck and the bend of saidloop having a width greater than the interior diameter of said ring to confine the slidable movement of said ring between said head and said flattened portion and in easy operating position to the free end of said loop.

GEORGE BODEN. MORGAN V. DUELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

